I had the chance to see the screening of Stephen Elliott’s new film Cherry – and I wrote this review for SF Appeal. I think you’ll like it. Snip:
(…) Angelina (Ashley Hinshaw) is an 18-year-old girl in Long Beach with a dutiful pal Andrew (Dev Patel, Slumdog Millionaire) and a penchant for banging bad boys. She works at a laundromat to supply money for her family; a little sister, addict mother Phyllis (Lili Taylor) and angry drunk of a stepfather. She does a lingerie shoot where she negotiates herself a good deal; her first act of taking ownership of her life makes her decide to bail up to San Francisco to make a better life for herself.
With Andrew in tow (and decidedly in the frustrated friend zone), they land in SF at a hospitable homosexual’s flat. From there, Angelina explores San Francisco as we know it and her narrative arc into Kink.com (called “BOD” in the film) unfolds. At BOD she costars with Lorelei Lee, and finds an unusual allegiance with BOD’s leading lesbian director Margaret (Heather Graham).
Angelina’s journey into BDSM porn is the backdrop against which she confronts growing up and facing her family, making boundaries with friends and colleagues that fall in love with her, and her first real relationship with an adult man (James Franco). (…read more, sfappeal.com)
Sounds like an HBO series rather than a 110-minute film. Think “Breaking Bad” with a run of years rather than trying to find any form of resolution in under 2 hours.